Utah's Bad Air

Thursday on RadioWest we’re talking about northern Utah’s perennially poor air quality. While people have no control over the weather and geography that team up to trap nasty air in the valleys, they can influence one very important factor: how much air pollution they put out. So here are some questions: Who’s responsible for our mucky air? What, realistically, can be done about it? And what can we learn from other cities that have cleaned up their air? We want to hear from you, so we hope you’ll join us.

We recorded a conversation with urban environmental historian David Stradling this morning. We don't have time to play that, but it's instructive to look at the problem through the lens of history: how we have dealt with it in the past and explore what has changed. Stradling writes about the anti-smoke crusade of the early 1900s in the US. It was one of the first environmental movements.It's instructive to look at the problem through the lens of history: how we have dealt with it in the past and explore what has changed. Stradling writes about the anti-smoke crusade of the early 1900s in the US. It was one of the first environmental movements.